


This is Magic (I Can Tell by the Feeling)

by northofthehouse



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Dragons, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2019-04-28 16:12:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14452929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northofthehouse/pseuds/northofthehouse
Summary: Jongin was no one’s treasure. Who did this dragon think he was, to come to Everlasting and suddenly flip Jongin’s world upside down? To claim that Jongin was somehow important and worth something? It wasn't fair.





	This is Magic (I Can Tell by the Feeling)

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #: Self-prompt  
> Pairing: Chanyeol/Kai  
> Monster(s): Dragons  
> Rating: PG  
> Warnings: None  
> Word Count: 1431 words  
> Author's Note: This is inspired by R. Cooper's Treasure for Treasure. It's a darling book that everyone should read, and I can only hope I did it at least a little justice. Enjoy!

A spot of orange flashed brightly on the horizon. Jongin’s head shot up from the manga he was reading but the forest was its usual darkness of greens and browns. Perhaps he was imagining things?

Or perhaps he wasn’t. There, far into the trees and almost at the edge of Jongin’s vision, was a flickering light that could only be the first signs of a forest fire. There didn’t seem to be any smoke yet, but Jongin reached for his radio anyway to tell his supervisor of trespassers and a potential fire on the Everlasting Reserve.

And then the light was gone again. The fire went out as quickly as it first appeared, and though he kept a vigilant watch for the rest of his shift, Jongin saw no further sign of it. He called it in just in case, and was later told that the rangers had found a clearing of scorched tree trunks and crushed grass but nothing else.

That’s Everlasting for you, everyone said. Just be glad the dragons aren’t home to see the damage.

The dragons hadn’t lived in his town since he was little, but their wrath was legendary. Jongin had heard the stories as often as any other child who grew up in Everlasting: the town and the bordering reserve belonged to the dragons, and only a fool would threaten the peace of those places.

Of course that threat didn’t apply to the petty dealings of mere humans, Jongin thought bitterly on more than one occasion. The dragons didn’t care about a man who beat his son for being gay. They didn’t care about childhood bullies who added their own bruises to the ones Jongin already had.

They certainly didn’t care when Jongin thought he’d finally found happiness in Taemin, only for the jock to claim that everything they’d done in secret was a ruse to out Jongin in the most public and painful way possible. Taemin broke Jongin’s heart their senior year of high school, and did the dragons care? No, they certainly did not.

“Be fair,” Sehun, Jongin’s dragon-obsessed coworker and best friend, told him. “The dragons weren’t around when all that shit with Taemin happened.”

“Yeah,” Jongin agreed, “and they’re not around now. I’ll say what I want about them; it’s not like they’re going to hear me.”

Sehun looked toward the door where the bell had just rung to signal a new customer. “They might,” he whispered furiously before he smiled at Junmyeon and walked over to the register to take his order.

This wasn’t the only time the two friends had had this conversation. Jongin rolled his eyes at Sehun and went to work on Junmyeon’s order.

“Did you hear the news?” Junmyeon’s tone was conspiratorial as he leaned across the bar and waited for his drink. “There was a fire out in the Reserve yesterday morning.”

Jongin sighed. “I know you know I was the lookout yesterday, Junmyeon,” he replied. “What’s your real news?”

Junmyeon sniffed indignantly. “Well,” he said, more to Sehun than Jongin this time, “that was no ordinary fire. It seems the damage was done by flames much hotter than anything man-made could produce.”

“And?”

Jongin didn’t see where Junmyeon was going with this, but Sehun apparently did because he said with near bursting excitement, “The dragons have returned to Everlasting!”

“You’re right,” a someone agreed from the doorway. In all Sehun and Junmyeon’s loud excitement, Jongin had missed the bell and now he looked up to see a tall man with flaming red hair and a tentative smile. “But it’s not dragons,” he said, emphasizing the plural. “It’s just me.”

“I know you,” Sehun murmured thoughtfully. “Chan-something, right?” He turned to Jongin and added, “He’s our age, Nini. Remember his parents used to drag him around to all the Founder’s events and stuff like that?”

Yes, Jongin remembered. He remembered his fascination with the shy boy who’d had bright hair even back then and had smiled at him from behind his mother. He remembered being caught and punished by his father for bothering the dragons and making eyes at their son. He remembered the bruises—it hadn’t been the first or last time he’d been hit; but it had been the worst.

That’s why he said “No, Sehun. You know I’ve never cared about Everlasting’s dragons,” and purposely looked away when the man in the doorway made a sound of hurt.

“Jongin!” Junmyeon chastised in a harsh whisper. “Be careful!”

“Oh please,” the dragon said, stepping out of the doorway and up to the register. “Don’t be careful.” Pause. “Jongin.” He looked down at his hands and then smiled sheepishly. “I’m not that kind of dragon. Not like my parents think I should be. Not like the Founder’s would have wanted.”

Jongin had something to say about that. “The Founders were a bunch of old rich people who claimed land that was already inhabited and declared themselves its protectors without any input from the people they claimed to protect.”

“But you don’t understand,” the dragon tried to protest. “We-”

Jongin didn’t let him finish. “I don’t care if you’ve brought an army of dragons back with you. Order something or leave.”

Junmyeon gasped in horror; insulting the dragons was simply not done. Sehun pointedly turned his back to wipe down the espresso machine and stayed out of it.

“Um,” the dragon said, properly abashed. His gaze traveled hungrily over the various assortment of herbal teas on offer but he stuttered and said, “I’ve never actually- I mean, I don’t- That is-” The dragon blushed furiously. Even annoyed as he was, Jongin could admit that the flush across the dragon’s cheeks was a good look for him.

“Yes?” Jongin asked, attempting to speed things up a bit. This whole encounter was already going to be the talk of the town—he could thank Junmyeon for that—and Jongin wasn’t trying to keep the dragon around any longer, no matter how nicely he looked when he blushed.

“What do you like?” the dragon asked, finally.

Jongin answered promptly. “Double espresso with a pinch of cinnamon.”

“One of those then,” said the dragon finally. “For Chanyeol, please.”

Jongin nodded and rang him up as Sehun started to work on Chanyeol’s drink.

“Um,” the dragon, Chanyeol, said again. “I’d like it if Jongin made my drink for me.” At Sehun’s raised eyebrow and Jongin’s incredulous snort he added quickly, “Since he recommended it and all!”

“Sure thing, Mr. Dragon. Your wish is my command. It’s still $4.50 though, no matter who’s making the coffee.”

“Of course!” Chanyeol agreed immediately and then spent a solid 30 seconds painstakingly laying out his payment...in coins.

“Unbelievable,” Jongin muttered under his breath as he collected Chanyeol’s money and turned toward the espresso machine. When the drink was done, Jongin turned back around and handed the steaming cup to Chanyeol. Their fingers brushed and, when Chanyeol raised the cup to his face and took a whiff then grimaced, it took all of Jongin’s willpower not to say something sarcastic.

Chanyeol dropped a coin into the tip jar and smiled softly at Jongin as he cradled his drink gently in his hands. “Thank you, treasure,” he murmured quietly, then left with as little ceremony as he’d arrived.

The coffee shop buzzed back to life and Junmyeon and Sehun set to gossipping immediately, but Jongin was silent and stayed that way for the rest of his workday as he contemplated the dragon’s arrival.

There were so many things Jongin didn’t understand.

For one thing, why would the dragon order something he clearly did not like? It made no sense to Jongin when it was obvious that Chanyeol would have much preferred hot tea.

Why did the dragon pay only in coins? It was no secret that the Everlasting dragons were loaded.

And why did the dragon call him treasure? Jongin was no one’s treasure. He was barely one person’s friend and even then Sehun was young, usually high, and hardly a good judge of character. His father wanted nothing to do with him if he persisted in being gay, his mother had left not long after he was born, and his only real relationship had been a lie the whole time.

Who did this dragon think he was, to come to Everlasting and suddenly flip Jongin’s world upside down? To claim that Jongin was somehow important and worth something? It wasn’t fair, and Jongin resolved to tell the dragon exactly that the next time Chanyeol put in an appearance at the Everlasting Cuppa.

If he ever did.

**Author's Note:**

> Think of this as a prologue because, as with everything I'm writing these days, I'm not strictly finished with this universe. This is a standalone, open-ended little fic, sure, but broken Jongin and hapless dragon Chanyeol just give me all the feels so expect more of them in the near future!


End file.
